Facsimile output job sorting unit and system

ABSTRACT

Separating the physical sheets outputted from a shared users printer, especially, a facsimile receiver, into separate job sets for separate designed recipients, with an independent &#34;mailboxing&#34; job sorting accessory unit, not requiring any electronic connection to the printer, controlled solely by physical job cover sheets outputted by the printer at the same output in advance of the other sheets of the job, which cover sheets variably encoded with simply and uncritically marked areas indicative of an assigned bin number and the job sheet count. The unit sequentially takes the printer output sheets and feeds them through a sheet input with optical sensing connecting with a control for detecting the marked area encoding of the cover sheet and determining if it corresponds to an assigned bin number, for feeding the subsequent output sheets of the designated sheet count to a designated bin subsequent to such a detection; and for feeding output sheets to another output sheet collection bin if no such encoding is detected. The disclosed unit also desirably has bin locking for restricting access to individual bins with electrical unlocking of a bin in response to entry of a bin access code. Also disclosed is automatic bin recipient telephoning.

Cross-referenced and incorporated by reference is a related applicationof even date by the same inventor and assignee entitled, "AutomaticFacsimile Output Recipient Telephoning System" application Ser. No.07/933,831, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,181.

Disclosed is a job sorting or "mailboxing" system, in which sets ofplural physical sheet jobs are preceded by physical cover sheets whichare coded in a manner which can be optically read by the "mailbox"sorter unit itself to thereby direct that set of sheets into aparticular bin, or set of bins. That is, the sorter or "mailbox" unitcan obtain information solely from reading a control sheet within asequence of other commonly inputted sheets (from a physical sheet outputsource such as a facsimile or other printer) to control a desiredstorage destination of the accompanying sequence of sheets. This allowsplural users to have a shared system which automatically puts differentusers outputs into different mailboxes or sorter bins, without having togo up to or wait by the machine to program it. I.e., printing jobs canbe sorted by job senders, users or addressees, without normallyrequiring any operator presence or local keying. It also allows for asorter module that is universal, in the sense that the sorter moduledoesn't care where the sheets it receives come from. It canautomatically obtain all needed information indicating a job's desiredbin destination solely from a physical control sheet handled like anyother sheet to send the job sheets to that indicated bin. As discussedherein, job or addressee "mailboxing" is not "sorting" in the common orusual sense of collating plural identical copy sheets by sequentiallyplacing them in different bins, even if similar hardware may beemployed.!

Additionally disclosed is a low cost, easy to use, such system fordiscretely handling received facsimile or other printer outputdocuments, fully compatible with existing conventional facsimile systemsof all types. It can be used as a simple accessory for various existingfacsimile receivers. Since there are millions of existing facsimile andother printers, of different manufacturers, it is highly desirable notto require any modifications of those units, and to accommodate theirvariations in sheet registration and sheet printing magnifications.

In particular, there is further disclosed a facsimile or other printeroutput sheet sorting system capable of independently handling andseparating different jobs for different addressees automatically andsimply, without requiring connection to a computer system, complexsoftware, electric image memory storage, or special facsimile operationsor procedures. A simple, easily marked, cover sheet (leader sheet or jobsheet) for the facsimile transmitted document may be used, which coversheet is compatible and/or interchangeable with existing facsimiledocument cover sheets. As further disclosed in the example hereinbelow,a conventionally facsimile received hard copy of such a marked coversheet of a facsimile transmitted plural page document may be fed intoand optically read by a separate multi-bin mailboxing unit toautomatically control the particular bin assignment and bin destinationof the cover sheet and its accompanying plural page document job sheets.

Further disclosed is a method and apparatus for sorting receivedfacsimile, or other printer, documents wherein a simple, uncritical codepattern located on a transmitted and printed cover sheet for a documentis used to designate a particular physical destination for the printeddocument sheets. More specifically, further disclosed is a method andapparatus for bin coding in which a user bin number and a number ofpages associated with a job are marked on a cover sheet before it istransmitted and are read by a code reader in a simple mailbox device atthe receiving station.

The disclosed unit can be a universal stand-alone unit that may beattached to, or even simply moved next to, the output of almost anyconventional facsimile machine or networked electronic mail printer, orother printer. No electrical or mechanical linkages or interconnectionsare required. However, as additionally disclosed in the example below,if desired, a common telephone line can be shared with a facsimilemachine for additional features.!

It is important to note that with the: present system, the marked coversheet need not be read by either the input image scanner or the imagereceiver, the facsimile system or any image printer. Thus, there is noneed until after the facsimile transmission has been regularly printedin hard copy to electrically and/or optically separate or distinguishencoded control indicia on the cover sheet from regular text or imagedata. The latter is required by many other much more complex systemsrequiring image storage and software manipulation, examples of which arecited below.

As disclosed in the embodiment herein, another disclosed aspect of thepresent system can be to provide convenient discrete locked binssecurity for received facsimile hard copies for several differentrecipients, or shared user printer jobs. That is, also disclosed in theexample hereinbelow is electronically controlled bin locking for privatebins security. This allows plural shared facsimile or printer recipientsto share the same conventional facsimile receiver or other printerwithout disclosing, compromising or commingling their separate jobsand/or correspondence.

Unlike various prior art systems, no bar coding or other criticallyfinely spaced indicia documents or images which require critical readingand/or discrimination from normal text or image data by the facsimilereceiver or a networked computer are required with the ,disclosedsystem. Also, no special electrical signals or control codes need to betransmitted.

Unlike some prior facsimile transmitted cover letter marked (encoded)control sheet systems, discussed below, the present system does notrequire tedious and error prone marking of ten or more separate boxes orother indicia corresponding to all 10 digits of a recipient telephonenumber and/or name, etc.

The disclosed system at the facsimile transmission end (transmitter)uses merely a simple non-critical FAX transmittal cover sheet which canbe easily repeatedly reproduced and transmitted by customers. It isusable even after several generations of copies, since it is quiteinsensitive to copying distortion errors, unlike many bar code patterntype systems. The subject cover sheet is usable like, and as, anordinary facsimile cover sheet.

As shown in the disclosed embodiment here, simple non-critical manualmarking in as little as one or two areas of an otherwise conventionalfacsimile transmittal cover sheet by the sender of any facsimiledocument can provide job output separated by addressee at the receivingfacsimile area with an exemplary disclosed automatic output sortingunit. Only a one or two digit bin number need be encoded for thedisclosed system, not an entire telephone number. Facsimile jobseparation upon receipt can be done simply by placing a couple of darkmarks in pen or pencil on a standardized simple code pattern facsimiletransmission cover sheet indicating the recipient's bin number. (Also,preferably another two marks for the number of sheets being sent to thedesignated bin). This disclosed exemplary unit can then automaticallyplace the received facsimile job into a designated or assigned lockablebin, and, in coordination, if desired, even place a telephone call tothe addressee recipient binholder indicating a facsimile receipt by thatbinholder (reference the above cross-referenced application).

In other words, the disclosed embodiment provides a stand-alone"mailbox" or addressable sorter which can automatically sort and fileconventional facsimile output documents (conventional "hard copies",i.e., physical sheets) in discrete designated bins, which can besecured. Yet, as further disclosed, these locked bins can be easilyindividually unlocked electrically to provide almost instant access tothe secured hard copies. With the disclosed system, recipients do notneed to stand by facsimile receivers awaiting confidential facsimilemessages to avoid their being read, or even accidentally taken, by otherusers. Note that typical facsimile receivers simply commonly stack allreceived documents for all recipients together into one tray.! Thisdisclosed system allows for confidential facsimile transmissions acrossthe whole facsimile machine population, not limited to any particularmachine or product line.

As further disclosed, the shared same unit and system can furtherprovide automatic telephone notification of facsimile message or otherelectronic mail arrivals to individual recipients. That is, furtherdisclosed in the example below is an automatic dialer system softwarerelating the indicated bin numbers with storable (retained) user's phonenumbers. Thus, the numerous advance or subsequent voice phone callspresently being made to indicate facsimile transmissions can be avoided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A specific feature of the specific embodiment disclosed herein is toprovide an apparatus for separating the outputted plural physical sheetjobs from the output of a networked shared users document job printer,which may comprise a facsimile receiver printer, into separate job setsfor separate designed recipients of documents jobs electronicallytransmitted into said printer, comprising: a variably encoded physicalcover sheet outputted by said printer at said same outout in advance ofsaid outputted sheets of a said printer output job, said cover sheetbeing variably encoded with marked areas indicative of a bin number anda job sheet count number for said printer output job, and a printeroutput job sheet sorting accessory unit, said job sorting accessory unitincluding, sheet input means positionable at said sheet output of saidjob printer to sequentially receive said output job sheets therefrom andfeed them in a sheet feeding path into said sheet input means, pluraldiscrete job output sheet collection bins, control means forelectronically assigning discrete said bin numbers to respective saidjob printer output sheet collection bins, and for electronicallyassigning different said discrete bin numbers to different said sharedusers of said job printer, optical sensing means in said sheet inputmeans and operatively connecting with said control means for detectingsaid marked area encoding on said cover sheet and determining if itcorresponds to a said assigned bin number, and sheet bin selection andfeeding means, controlled by said determination of said optical sensingmeans and said control means, for selectively feeding said output sheetsfrom said sheet input means to designated said output sheet collectionbins subsequent to a said detection by said optical sensing means andsaid control means of a preceding said cover sheet with said marked areaencoding corresponding to a said assigned bin number for a saiddesignated shared job printer user, for job sorting, and for feedingsaid output sheets to another said output sheet collection bin if nosaid encoding is so detected.

Further specific features provided by the system disclosed herein,individually or in combination, include those wherein said job sortingaccessory unit has bin locking means for restricting access toindividual said bins thereof, and electrical bin unlocking meansoperatively connecting with said control means for unlocking saidlocking means for at least one said bin in response to entry of a binaccess code; and/or wherein said job sheet sorting output accessory unitis an independent mailbox unit not requiring any electronic connectionto said job printer to operate therewith; and/or wherein said uniquemarked areas encoded on said cover sheet provides for said detection ofan assigned bin number and the number of sheets in the job followingsaid cover sheet to be fed to a designated bin by said unit, and areprinted by said printer using the same optically readable printingindicia used to print said job output sheets; and/or wherein the numberof said output sheets sequentially following a so encoded cover sheetwhich is fed to one said discrete collection bin by said sheet binselection and feeding means corresponds to said number of sheets in thejob encoded on said preceding cover sheet.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

By way of background, various types of facsimile or facsimile controls,including facsimile readable encoded job cover sheets, are known in theart. The following patent disclosures and products are noted asexamples:

Of pioneer interest re facsimile coding methods is Xerox CorporationU.S. Pat. No. 4,086,443, issued Apr. 25, 1978, to Gorham, et al., filedMay 3, 1977. It shows cover sheets (called address cards) with adistinctive leading and trailing edge border (on both sides) bar codingpattern 84, detectable upon feeding into the facsimile transmitterscanner, which cover sheets can be marked encoded! with telephonenumbers also read by the fax transmitting unit, to automatically placefacsimile sending telephone calls for the subsequently automatically fedsheets. FIG. 5A and Col. 8 indicates that "each row of the instructionfield 85 is preceded by another distinctive bar code 86 . . .". A columnof black squares is shown for 86.!

The recently announced Xerox Corporation developed "PaperWorks"™ productutilizes a special encoded fine pattern of special marks ("glyphs"),electronically recognized as such using PC computer software by thefacsimile electronic image receiver. "PaperWorks"™ and informationthereon is commercially available by calling 1-800-432-9329.!It wasinitially configured to operate on a conventional personal computerhaving a conventional internal fax card and a modem, electronic mailsystem or other network connection to telecommunications, and running"Windows"™ software. A "PaperWorks"™ fax form carries a codedidentification region which, upon scanning, may be decoded by anappropriate processing system. This coded identification allows thesystem to determine which of several different pre-stored forms thereceived form is, and what its page layout is. From this, the system canalso extract the necessary user-entered information from the form tofacilitate processing. An important feature of the "PaperWorks"™ systemis the use of data defining a control sheet image to provide informationin accordance with which operations are performed on data defining asequence of images data defining images, not actual physical sheets of amedium!. For example, the control sheet image can include informationindicating a destination to which the fax server then transmits datadefining said sequence of images.

For example, "PaperWorks"™ can respond to a fax transmission of a formthat has checkable boxes, each needing only one mark to indicate desiredrecipients of a requested fax transmission. In other words, a user canmark check-boxes on a cover sheet form to indicate the recipients towhom a fax transmission is requested, where those recipients facsimilenumbers were previously programmed in the PC in a recipients index. Theform can alternatively or also include plural check boxes that areplurally marked with a recipient's entire fax telephone number. Morespecifically, when the special form is transmitted to the user's faxserver (the user's PC with a fax card and "PaperWorks"™ software), thefax server can cause fax transmissions to the indicated recipients. Thefax server can do this by decoding machine readable marks on the form toobtain an identifier of the form; using the form identifier to retrievea pre-stored form description; using the form description to determinewhich parts of the form are fields with check boxes that could indicaterecipients; analyzing the contents of each recipient's check box to seewhether it is marked; and then making the requested fax transmission toeach recipient whose check box is marked. The last steps involves PCauto-dialing of telephone numbers of other faxes directed from markedindicia on the faxed "smart" "stored document distribution form," whichform can be faxed from a PC receiver, as further described below. (Or,the set of forms could be carried around by the user, obviating thefirst step of retrieving a starter form.) The PC fax card dials a faxnumber, either read from a form or previously stored in the PC's faxcard memory.

If a user's fax server receives a fax transmission of a document that isnot preceded by a "PaperWorks"™ form, the fax server treats the documentas ordinary fax mail. That is, if a document is sent to the PC without acover form, the PC will normally route the fax image as a document intothe PC electronic in-mailbox, thereafter alerting the user of new mail.An icon on the PC screen display may be modified to indicate that suchfax mail has been received, and list these documents when the userrequests a listing of fax mail. The user can then display or print thedocument.

To further describe "PaperWorks"™ system (PW), capabilities by example,a remote user with access only to a fax machine may, simply by faxing ablank sheet to his or her own PC (which has been appropriatelyprogrammed to run upon receipt of an instruction from its fax card)start the system. The PC's "PaperWorks"™ (PW) software can interpret :hefaxed blank sheet as a request by the user for a starter form. PW thencreates a starter form by assembling instruction fields and userselectable items within those fields, and organizes the form accordingto a form description language. The particular layout of the starterform is stored, along with an identifier, such as a number. Theidentifier is added to the form layout as coded indicia ("glyphs"). PWdials back the remote user's fax machine telephone number (acquiredthrough system handshaking or user-entered, as appropriate) and faxesback the form. Here, the remote user's fax machine functions as aprinter. The remote user may then request by fax from his or her PCfurther forms allowing him or her to retrieve, store, distribute ordelete documents in his or her PC. Assume he or she selects the"retrieve" option, by checking on the starter form a list of retrievableitems desired. He or she dials her PC again, and faxes to it the nowmarked-up starter form. The PC identifies the received document as aform and finds and decodes the glyphs, obtaining the form identifiertherefrom. With this information, and the page description language, thePC is able to determine what the remote user wants next--in this examplea retrieve list form. This form is constructed and faxed back to theremote user in a manner similar to that described above. Now, in thisexample, suppose the remote user receives handout documents at a remotemeeting and wishes to fax them back to his or her home office. As above,the remote user obtains a starter form by fax from his or her PC, andindicates on it that he or she wants to store documents. The form canalso have a region which allows he or she to "name" the document beingstored with a handwritten file name. This allows naming or labeling of adocument without requiring access to any keyboard (OCR/OMR need not beperformed on this handwritten file name). The remote user then faxesthis form as a cover sheet for and with the handouts to his or her PC.The PW software causes the handouts to be stored as an image file in thePC with the associated handwritten file name. The remote user may alsowish to distribute these handouts to others. This is facilitated by a PWform which allows the remote user to indicate thereon a document storedon his or her PC and to indicate fax destinations for that document.Each such form carries an identifier of itself and also user modifiablefields for allowing a user to cause one or more actions to occur basedon marks imparted on the form. The receiving computer's softwareinterprets and acts upon them.

Further noted in this regard is Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. No.5,060,980, issued Oct. 29, 1991 to W. A. L. Johnson, et al., entitled"Form Utilizing Encoded Indications for Form Field Processing",disclosing a facsimile transmittable form carrying a layout descriptionof itself in coded data, markable boxes, and, optionally, instructionsto a processor on how to process the form. Also, Xerox Corporation U.S.application Ser. No. 07/855,987 D/91582! "Method and System For LabelingA Document For Storage, Manipulation, and Retrieval", now pending; U.S.application Ser. No. 07/856,107 (D/92127), now U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,052,of Walter A. L. Johnson et al., filed Mar. 20, 1992, entitled"Techniques for Automatic Form Creation by Combining PartialOperations"; and U.S. application Ser. No. 07/854,520 (D/92165), nowU.S. Pat. No. 5,267,383, of Walter A. L. Johnson et al., filed Mar. 20,1992, entitled "Using a Form to Request Automatic Form Creation." TheXerox "Telecopier 495"™ product used a marked "sense" sheet to implementits security provisions.

Turning to other facsimile control systems, U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,326,filed Jun. 26, 1990, issued May 19, 1992 to Burgess et al., and assignedto Hewlett Packard Company states, e.g., in part, in its Abstract: "Afax message transmitted by a facsimile transmitter includes bar codedheaders in its first page. At least one of these headers contains thename of an addressee that is also a user on a network. A fax serverreceiving the incoming fax message inspects the first page of theincoming facsimile to locate the bar coded headers. If a TO: header isfound it is used to determine the corresponding E-mail address, and thefax is automatically routed as E-mail on the network to the addressee .. . . The fax server or some other application running on a computerserved by the network may be the addressee . . ."

U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,779 to Yuji Hikawa, issued Sep. 24, 1991 to FujiXerox, is on a generalized job control sheet, utilizing a specialencoded fine, critical, pattern of special marks which must beelectronically recognized and read comprising (necessarily pre-printed)line drawings with a certain low correlative angle to longitudinal andtransverse directions of the sheet, with the appearance of a variedpattern fine slash marks of two alternating angles. Said U.S. Pat. No.5,051,779 is of particular interest in that it provides for singlemarking of a "FAX Number . . . . Registered Name" indicated area on thecontrol sheet, and also two "Number of Copies" area selections from acolumn thereof. This job sheet is apparently for an input image scannerfor either a printer or a facsimile system, although the latter is onlybriefly noted.

Another Fax coding related patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,333, issuedJan. 9, 1990 to Paul and David Baran, assigned to Interfax, and itspending reissue and art therein. It indicates in its Abstract that "theremote facsimile transmitter user marks paper selector sheet form sic!using a pencil or pen" . . . for selective retrieval of text andgraphics. Another such patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,563 to Harrington,discussed below. Also, Japanese Laid Open No. 63-242060 laid open Oct.7, 1988.

The "User Handbook, Version 3.01"©1988, for the Xerox "FaxMaster 21"product, indicates that it can automatically load hours of multi-page,multi-destination, facsimile transmission documents, and send them allwith a few simple keystrokes, and can retrieve document from multiplelocations, print them at the hub, store them on disk for later printout,or forward them to other facsimile terminals automated store andforward!. It provides electronic mail capability by storing documentsfor retrieval by remote network users. It provides confidentialelectronic! mailboxes, enabling secure document reception for onlyauthorized personnel. It utilizes a personal computer with software, andcan use remote touch-tone telephone access to the hub unit.

EP Publication No. 0 354 703 A2 published Feb. 14, 1990 by Canon forSato, et al., based on Japanese Application Nos. 193232991/88,2236261/88 and 3129261/88, discloses a multi-functional informationprocessing apparatus with an image scanner, telephone or facsimilefunction and performing facsimile or regular calling in accordance withkey word searches. It can also be controlled by a business card reader(image scanner) reading telephone numbers on regular business cards.

Xerox Disclosure Journal, (XDJ) publication, Vol. 13, No. 4, page 193,July/August, 1988, by R. M. Johnson, entitled "Flash Mail", states, inits entirety: "A receiver of an unattended telecopier is constructed sothat received mail grouped according to zip code could have the addressprinted on the reverse side of the message sheet. The receiver hasduplexing capability. The sheet is then automatically folded and sealedwith a weak adhesive. The letter then passes through a postage meter andis then sorted and delivered. The weak adhesive enables the letter to bereadily opened without tearing."

Of particular interest, especially re voice telephone notification torecipients of fax messages, is U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,718 to T. Sueyoshi,assigned to Fuji Photo Film Co. It refers to facsimile correspondencecontaining codes for telephone numbers and sensors in the receivingequipment for reading these telephone codes. This patent also notes inCol. 1 that facsimile systems can include in-house line systems. SaidU.S. Pat. No. 4,654,718 in column 1, line 60 et seq., states that: "Afirst object of this invention is to provide an equipment which isattached to a facsimile receiver and which identifies, upon receipt of apiece of correspondence through a facsimile system . . . the telephonenumber of the ultimate addressee of the arrived piece of correspondence,connects a line with the identified telephone receiver, and sends arecorded message to the identified telephone receiver, thereby informingthe ultimate addressee of the arrived piece of correspondence, of thearrival of a facsimile correspondence." FIG. 1 and Cols. 3-4 generallyverbally indicate that an OCR or mark sensor not disclosed?! can read orsense on the arrived facsimile correspondence the number of an ultimateaddress if it is in a specific location or with a special prefix orsuffix signal not disclosed?!. Col. 4 further states that an endlesstape recorder transmits a recorded message including a notice of thearrival of correspondence at the facsimile receiver. However, note thatfor said U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,718, a sender of a fax sheet would need toput down the recipient's entire phone number on the sheet. A memory unitis used for temporarily storing the phone number indicated an theincoming fax, but that memory is apparently erased for receiving newphone numbers after the recipient is called. This equipment isapparently only for one-time telephone notification per facsimilemessage.

Although not part of a facsimile system, it is reported that a featureof an "Octel System 200" voice mail system is called "outcallnotification" and may be as follows: when one receives a message on hisvoice mail system that telephone system dials your pager number to alertyou that you have a message. One's voice mail box number and pagernumber are both dedicated. Also, of course, manually, for many years, aWestern Union operator would call a person to let them know that theirtelegram came in.

Job control sheets for printer control--bar code printed copy sheetsreadable by an image input scanner for a printer to control printeroperations--are known, for example, from Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,602,776 by York; 4,970,554 (D/87351C) by Rourke; 4,757,348 byRourke et al.; FX U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,858; and Eastman Kodak CorporationU.S. Pat. No. 4,987,447. Hand-marked copier job control sheets, with barcode identifiers, fed as and with documents to be imaged, are disclosedin Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,528, issued Feb. 3, 1981 to R.B. Sahay.

Of course, it is known to read optical or magnetically readable printedmarks on a sheet itself (as opposed to cover sheets) for other sortingfunctions and purposes, such as for checks or deposit slips, old IBMpunchcards and their multi-bin sorters, machines sorting physical (PostOffice) mail by zip code, bar code label readers for product or invoicesorting, U.S. patents now printed with bar codes on their first page,and the like.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,005 to Burger et al. (AM Corp.) discloses a methodof controlling a reprography machine offset plate printer! wherein acode is formed along at least one edge of a master. The code containsinstructions as to a number of copies to be made from each master and amanner in which the copies are to be distributed. A computer apparatuswhich is responsive to the code is provided for carrying out theinstructions. See, e.g., FIGS. 2 and 3.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,012 to Verderber et al. discloses a header sheet foruse with an automatic image communication transmissions system,(facsimile). The header sheet includes a peripheral border 11 ofregularly spaced hash marks on both its front and back faces to identifythe sheet as a header sheet. A data area of the header sheet comprisestwo basic portions: a first sender identification area 20, and a secondaddressee identification area 30. The data areas are coded by theirpositions in a raster scan for interpretation by the communicationsystem to control a transmission operation. The data areas comprises anumber of defined oval areas 51 to be marked by a user with pen orpencil, in accordance with information intended. See FIG. 1. The headersheet is scanned by a scanner at the transmission end beforetransmission.

Of particular interest, U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,563 to Harrington disclosesa data processing form for providing control information to apparatus,such as facsimile machines, having a scanner. The form has darkenedareas which establish a row and column format with an elongate edge markfor each row. The edge marks extend to the edge of the form. Areas to befilled in by a user are defined using some of the darkened areas. Theform format minimizes software needed for circuitry used to processinformation obtained from the form.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,101 to Schonfeld et al. (Sperry Corp.) discloses aduplex laser printer which prints discrete bar type codes on copy sheetsin process for pagination control information.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,354 to Priddy et al. is only of background interestas disclosing one type of optically machine readable binary code.

Of particular background interest, job separation "mailboxes" per se,broadly speaking, are known in the art. A printer mailboxing system withlocking bins is further noted below--the Xerox Corporation EPOapplication No. 0 241 273 published Oct. 14, 1987. Unlocked or open bincopier or printer "mailbox" art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,074 issuedMar. 24, 1992 to B. P. Mandel, et al., by Xerox Corporation D/88157!.See especially FIG. 4 and its description. In particular, it disclosesautomatic copier or printer output stacking of plural sets ofpre-stapled precollated plural sheet copy sets into selected "mailbox"bins, i.e., more than one job set per bin.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,790, issued Jul. 18, 1989 to M. Ito (Minolta) is ofinterest as showing a copier document feeder with plural input andoutput bins or trays for different document jobs, maintaining jobsegregation.

Automatically stacking more than one unstapled copy set into sorterbins, with set offsetting, by bin side-shifting for increased bincapacity, is described in the Xerox Disclosure Journal Vol. 14, No. 1,Jan./Feb. 1989, p. 29, and a prior Sharp patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,924.Copier output tray side-shifting for set offsetting is well known, e.g.,U.S. 4,157,059. In-bin set tampers, another way of providing setoffsetting, are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,044,625 D/87242!,3,860,127; 4,134,672; 4,477,218; 4,480,825; 4,616,821; and 4,925,172,and art cited therein.

The use of otherwise conventional existing sorters for unlocked! printeroutput sorters or "mailboxes", and printer "mailboxing" in general, isdiscussed in Col. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,434 issued Jun. 27, 1989 toF. Lawrence, et al., by Gradco Systems Inc.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,892issued Aug. 16, 1988 to H. Tanaka, et al. A modular unit sorter isgenerally indicated in Col. 1 to be for sharing a printer with aplurality of users, sorting and compiling copies by user, in Seiko EpsonCorporation EPO Application 0 399 565 by Shigeru Sawada, et al.,published Nov. 28, 1990. Printer products observed with integral opensorter bins the bin selection system is not known! include the CanonNP-9030 sold for several years with a sorter option; the Kyocera F-2010and F-3010 laser printers with their 5 bin sorter option (1988?); andOce van der Grinten Corporation's recently commercially displayed "6750"and "6800" printers configurable with either 20 or 40 bin optionalprogrammable sorter/mailboxes. "Mailboxing" by bar-coded tape, tapingtogether output sets of a printer output is mentioned in the paragraphbridging pages 25-26 of copending D/90136, and in related D/91042, byMurray O. Meetze, for the same assignee, filed Dec. 16, 1991, as U.S.Ser. Nos. 07/808,241 and 07/808,133.

The term "mailbox" as used herein, as noted, refers to handling orsorting physical or hard copy sheets, not electronic images ordocuments, which are much easier to manipulate. A "mailbox" may morespecifically, as in the example herein, refer to temporarily orpermanently assigning a unique and predetermined electronic address torespective ones of plural bins of sorter-like equipment for a copier,printer or facsimile machine output, and enabling a particular user'soutput of one or more jobs to be directed into one or more selected binsso assigned. It may or may not include means for locking the bins andunlocking access thereto, as indicated above and as in the exampleherein. It may or may not additionally include a bin assignment schemewherein each bin has an associated LCD or other type of display with theappropriate user name or label displayed, and/or a common or centraldisplay, as in the example herein, and/or wherein jobs are placed inmore than one available bin if needed, i.e., if the sheet stackingcapacity of one assigned bin is exceeded. A mailbox for a laser or otherelectronic page input printer may ,desirably stack precollated sets ofsheets into a selected bin, rather than additionally or alternativelyfunctioning as a normal collator or sorter, since the electronic printercan normally more easily reorder and recirculate the pages being copiedto copy them in precollated order rather than making plural directlysequential copies of each page requiring post-collation in a sorter orcollator.

The problem of keeping shared (networked) printer job outputs frombecoming mixed up, or accidentally removed by others, is serious enoughthat some users have for several years placed manual mailboxes, likePost Office boxes, adjacent the printer, with the boxes labeled withdifferent user names, for manual job sorting. Likewise, for shared hardcopy facsimile machines.

A desirable additional feature for mailboxing systems is to staple orotherwise bind, fasten or finish the sheets of each job together, sothat plural finished sets are removable as such from the user's bin(s),maintained neatly stacked and separated from other jobs by beingfastened. This can be done by pre-compiling and stapling sets beforethey are placed into designated mailbox bins, as in the above-cited U.S.Pat. No. 5,098,074 to Mandel. Alternatively, it could be done by usingin-bin stapling, which is well know for sorters, e.g., Xerox CorporationU.S. Pat. No. 3,884,408 to L. Leiter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,207 toBains; U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,748 to Looney; U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,191 toStemmle; U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,310 to Cooper; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,171to Kramer, et al. Also, Xerox Corporation R/84007 U.K. 2 173 483-A GBpublished 15 Oct. 1986 by Denis Stemmle; and R/81011 U.S. Pat. No.4,687,191 issued Aug. 18, 1987 and published in the EPO as 0198970-A1 on29 Oct. 1986. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,550 issued Apr. 11, 1978 to R.Pal. Other Xerox Corporation patents include Snellman et al. U.S. Pat.No. 4,145,241 and Hamlin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,185 on edge joggingand glue binding sets in a sorter or collator and/or stapling of thepost-collated copy sets.

Another desirable "mailboxing" feature is secured bins. Prior art onlockable and unlockable copier or printer bins or mail boxes for theoutput sheets thereof includes the above-cited EPO application No. 0 241273 by Xerox Corporation published Oct. 14, 1987, D/86031 EP!, entitled"Limited Access Reproducing Machine Bins", showing a reproducing machinewith lockable and unlockable bins which can be selected by the user forreceiving copy sheets, precollated or uncollated. It teachesalternatively remote user or laser printer input, with copy bin lockboxes, and central computer display bin electrical bin unlocking entryand control usable herewith. Further as to bin locking, U.S. Pat. No.4,470,356 entitled "Word Processor-Controlled Printer Output Bin LockBox", issued Sep. 11, 1984, to Datapoint Corp., by D. Davis, et al.,discloses a lockbox insertable and removable from an output bin. Asecurity door is closed to allow removal of the box. U.S. Pat. No.4,437,660 entitled "Word Processor--Controlled Printer Output ScannerMechanism ", also issued Mar. 20, 1984 to Datapoint Corp., discloses ascanning mechanism for scanning individualized output bins collectinglaser printer output for determining each bins availability, the degreeof fullness, and whether or not a lockbox is positioned in the bin. U.S.Defensive Publication No. T102,102 entitled "Access Controlled Copier"Published Aug. 3, 1982 by Albert Bolle, et. al., discloses sorter binswhich can be locked to the user by means of a badge reader or the like.The user-entered identification data is entered and recorded on thefirst copy which is delivered to the locked sorter bin or bins. IBMCorp. U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,579 entitled "Information Transmitting andReceiving Station Utilizing a Copier-Printer" issued Nov. 8, 1983discloses a secured mailbox located at the bottom of the collator. XeroxCorporation reportedly provided modified copier sorters with locked binsfor at least the U.S. State Department many years ago.

Among examples of keyboard or keypad enterable electronic securitysystems in general are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,970,504; 5,014,049; and5,021,776.

Additionally noted is the Ricoh FAX4000L facsimile machine, whichdescribes in its literature the following feature called "ConfidentialTransmission": "If the other end has memory and the confidentialreception feature, you can use confidential transmission. The other endcan only print the message after they enter the terminal programmedpassword . . . . For extra security, you can specify the password forthe message. This personal password will override the password that theother terminal user has previously stored in their machine, which wouldnormally be used for printing confidential messages. Coordinate with thereceiver operator before using this feature. This feature works if thereceiver is using a recent Ricoh only?! memory facsimile terminal."

On another optional or desirable feature, art relating to sorter binassignment schemes wherein the bins have an associated LCD or the liketype of visual display includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,594 to Davis; U.S.Pat. No. 4,437,660 to Tomkins et al. noted above; U.S. Pat. No.4,501,419 to Takahashi, et al.; and U.S. Defensive Publication T102,102to Bolle et al., noted above. Also, Fuji Xerox Corp. FX-10475 JapaneseApplication No. S 59-55424, filed Apr. 17, 1984 and published on Nov. 6,1985 as Kokai No. 60-167054.

On another optional or desirable feature, the control and operation ofmulti-bin sheet collators or sorters to use or group more than oneadjacent bin when the number of sheets in a copy set will exceed thecapacity of a single bin is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No.4,522,485, the immediately above-cited Takahashi et al. U.S. Pat. Nos.4,501,419, or 4,134,581, and various above and other references. Therewere also commercially available for many years sorters in which binswere addressable by punched card or paper tape controls. Said U.S. Pat.No. 4,501,419 is also of interest as showing individual pivotal bingates, which gates also have another surface normally providing a "ski"or baffle for holding sheets against the sorter transport belt as theymove past the array of bins until they reach the selected bin (seeespecially FIG. 3 thereof).

When a sorter unit is to be alternatively used for, or converted to usefor, a printer mailbox unit, it may be desirable to increase theavailable sheet stacking space between bin trays or shelves to increasebin capacity. Moving or removing sorter bin shelves for doubling ortripling the number of multiple copies which a particular bin canreceive is taught for a sorter per se in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,279 issuedSep. 23, 1975 to J. H. Erwin by AM Corp. See especially Col. 3. Doing sofor different numbers of copies or documents to different users inpreprogrammed bin sequences is suggested in Col. 1.

A sorter or collator modular unit description which indicates that itcan accept copy sheets inputted from either of two opposite sidesthereof from a copier or printer, with or without inversion for face upor face down output, and other typical sorter options or modes, such asnoncollated top bin only stacking or progressive bins sort stacking ofidentical copies, is in U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,937 issued Feb. 1, 1972 toL. J. Schulz, et al. 3M!. However, it appears from the furtherdescription in Col. 8 thereof that the one said side entrance 14 willalways invert the input, and the other side 13 entrance will always notinvert the input, so that this unit would not actually beinterchangeably usable with all left or right end outputs. Mita U.S.Pat. No. 5,056,768 is noted re selectable right or left hand printeroutput. Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,904 issued Feb. 18, 1975to D. J. Stemmle shows inserting sheets into a set of sorter bins fromeither side thereof for simplex or duplex copies, i.e., with or withoutinversion, but all copies enter that unit from one side of the sortermodule.

As to usable specific hardware components of the subject apparatus, itwill be appreciated that, as is normally the case, some such specifichardware components are known per se in other apparatus or applications.For example, various commercially available stand-alone, self-controlledmodular sorter units are known for sorting the output of xerographiccopiers or printers. Examples include above-cited art and itsreferences. One commercial example is cited and disclosed in theembodiment example hereinbelow. In particular, for examples of sheetfeeding side registration systems and hardware, noted are XeroxCorporation U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,487,407; 4,411,418; 4,621,801; 4,744,555;4,809,968; 4,919,318, and 5,065,998.

In the description herein the term "sheet" or "hard copy" refers to ausually flimsy sheet of paper, plastic, or other such conventionalindividual physical image substrate, and not to electronic images.Related, e.g., page order, plural sheets, documents or copies can bereferred to as a "set" or "job". A "job" may also refer to one or moredocuments or sets of documents beings sent to or received by aparticular addressee or designee. The term "document", unfortunately,unless defined, is used ambiguously in the art by others to refer toeither a single page or multi-page set or job, especially (but notalways) as that which being transmitted or copied. "Original" is morespecifically used for the latter. "Facsimile", or the commonabbreviation "Fax", often refers to conventionally telecommunicatedimage data, in particular, documents facsimiled via a telephone systemin accordance with CCITT Standards, and equipment therefor. However, forclaim purposes herein, "facsimile" can also encompass "electronic mail"and/or system or network interconnected printers, networked with remoteterminals and/or scanners, and remote printers, or the like, unlessindicated otherwise. Plural mode (multi-function) combined normalprinting and facsimile message receiver printing capability printers areknown, and examples thereof are cited near the end of thisspecification. Facsimile can be sent and received by "fax cards" in PC's(personal computers) as well as with conventional stand-alone facsimilemachines. The term "printer" encompasses hard copy output from variousinput sources, including facsimile, and conventionally refers toelectronic document images input, versus a light-lens copier to whichphysical originals must be brought to be directly fed and imaged. Theterm "electronic mail" also has various broad meanings, and can includetransmission by either external telephone lines, and/or shared internalnetworks using optical fiber, twisted wire pairs, coaxial cable,wireless transmissions, or other networking media, or combinationsthereof, of documents for electronic remote terminal displays and/orprinter hardcopy printouts, to any of the numerous addresses designatedin the transmitted document.

The presently disclosed apparatus may be readily operated and controlledin a conventional manner with conventional control systems. It is wellknown in general and preferable to program and execute such controlfunctions and logic with conventional software instructions forconventional microprocessors. This is taught by the various patents andvarious commercial facsimile machines, copiers and sorters. Suchsoftware may of course vary depending on the particular function and theparticular software system and the particular microprocessor ormicrocomputer system being utilized, but will be available to or readilyprogrammable by those skilled in the applicable arts without undueexperimentation from either verbal functional descriptions, such asthose provided herein, or prior knowledge of those functions which areconventional, together with general knowledge in the software andcomputer arts. Controls may alternatively be provided utilizing variousother known or suitable hard-wired logic or switching systems.

All references cited in this specification, and their references, areincorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriateteachings of additional or alternative details, features, and/ortechnical background.

Various of the above-mentioned and further features and advantages willbe apparent from the specific apparatus and its operation described inthe example(s) below, as well as the claims. Thus, the present inventionwill be better understood from this description of an embodimentthereof, including the drawing figures (approximately to scale) wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective frontal view of one embodiment of the subjectfacsimile output sorting system unit operatively connecting with theoutput of one example of a conventional facsimile machine for drawingclarity here, especially of the display panel and keypad, this unit isshown located at the right end of the facsimile apparatus, althoughoutput is usually at the left end or side thereof!;

FIG. 2 is two plan views of one example an easily encodeable cover sheetreadable with the system of FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 2A is unmarked and FIG.2B is one example of a marked cover sheet;

FIG. 3 is a partially, broken away view of the input area of the sortingunit of FIG. 1, wherein a received (faxed) cover sheet, as per FIG. 2,is being optically read;

FIG. 4 is an exposed partial schematic front view of the priorcommercial features of the output sorter unit embodiment of FIGS. 1 and2 (but schematically shown here operatively connected to a general laserprinter such as Xerox "3700"! output rather than a specialized facsimileapparatus);

FIG. 5 is a rear exposed partial schematic view of the sorter unitembodiment of FIGS. 1, 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart of the operation of the embodiment ofFIGS. 1-5, and also an integral automatic telephone dialing systemusable herewith;

FIG. 7 is a schematic top view of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-6, with theinput area partly uncovered, and further illustrating an optionaladditional feature of lateral side-shifting of the bins for offsetstacking; and

FIG. 8 is a partial, broken-away, enlarged, interior perspective view ofone exemplary bin locking and unlocking mechanism usable with theembodiment of FIGS. 1-7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Describing now in further detail the exemplary embodiment with referenceto the Figures, there is shown a stand-alone facsimile or printer outputjob sorting unit 10, with plural bins 11, controlled by a marked coversheet 12, by way of one example thereof. The convention:ally facsimilereceived hard copy of the marked cover sheet 12 of a facsimiletransmitted plural page document is fed into and optically read by theseparate unit or sorter 10 to automatically control the particular bin11 assignment and bin 11 destination of the cover sheet 12 and itsaccompanying plural page document job sheets. The sorter unit 10 readsthe lead (cover) sheet 12 of the job, and directs that sheet and allother subsequent sheets of that job (indicated by the job sheet countindicator) to the bin number indicated on that lead or cover sheet 12.

As noted, the disclosed unit 10 can be a universal stand-alone unit thatis attached to, or even simply moved next to, the output of almost anyconventional facsimile machine, such as 14 illustrated, or an electronicmail or other printer such as 16 illustrated. (On some facsimilereceivers or printers, it may be necessary or desirable to first removean existing output catch tray. That output tray is often an easilyremovable "hung on" plastic unit, as in the Xerox Corporation"Telecopier® 7020" facsimile unit, which is similar to the facsimileunit 14 illustrated in FIG. 1.) No electrical or mechanical linkages orinterconnections are required. However, as will be additionally shown inthe example below, if desired, a common telephone line (the existingline for the facsimile machine) can be shared by the unit 10 with thefacsimile machine 14 for additional features.! All control informationis obtained solely by optically reading the markings in marking areas ofa received cover sheet 12 with an optical sensor array 30 in the unit 10input area 20. This sensor array 30 comprises sensors 31, 32, 33transverse the sheet path, adjacent one side of that input path area 20.Although the sensor array 30 is shown in the initial position of theunit 10 sheet input path, it could be located anywhere in the commonsheet input path upstream of the area of the bins entrances where thesheets are separated by bin decision gate or gates.

As noted, and further discussed below, the job sorting unit 10 can takesheets inputted at input area 20 from various facsimile outputs 14a orother printer outputs 16, or multi-functional such units. The input 20may, if desired, be provided with a pivotal or otherwise verticallyadjustable input ramp, to align with various outputs. The input 20 mayinclude, for example, a top input flexible frictional flapper or othertop feeder (or normal forces ski) 22, and/or a bottom input feeder 24such as the conventional frictional sheet transport belts feeder 24illustrated. Since the output of the facsimile or other printer may beacquired sequentially as individual sheets as it outputs (before itstacks) no sheet separator is required for the unit 10, and thus a verysimple input feeder can be used. It can even be positioned to reach intothe pre-existing sheet output tray of the printer to pull the sheets outof that tray, as by rotating the elongated frictional flapper or ski 22in a large radius. The flapper 22 functions here also as a nudger forceor normal force ski to press the sheet against belts 24. Conventionally,the sorter unit 10 feeder may be simply actuated by sensing the entranceof a sheet.

Once each output sheet of the printer has been acquired by the inputfeeder 24 or the like of the unit 10, the further feeding may be done bythe pre-existing roller and belt nips of the unit 10, which includefeeding the sheet into conventional bin selection and feeding means,such as the illustrated movable belt 56 including or carrying a movinggate or sheet deflector 56a for deflecting the sheet into a selected binby moving the belt 56 so that the moving gate 56a is adjacent theselected bin or tray 11 entrance. In the system herein, desirably eachbin 11 except the top bin 11a is partially or fully enclosed, with anormally locked door 52 openable on one side (or end).

The input area 20 of the unit 10 further includes the optical sensorarray 30, further described herein. It may be fixed or pivotally mountedover or under the sheet path through the input 20, preferably adjacent asheet side or edge guide 28 extending along one side of this sheet inputpath. As shown, a skewed foam roller on a flexible shaft or othersuitable sheet side registration drive 26 note the prior art citedabove! may be provided to move the sheet laterally (transversely)against the side guide 28 as well as further downstream into the unit10. This insures that one edge of the incoming sheets, especially, anycover sheet 12, will be aligned with the side guide 28, and thereforaligned laterally with the sensor array 30 so that the three columns ofmarkings thereon are respectively laterally aligned with, to pass under,the three sensors 31, 32, 33. Registration in the sheet movementdirection itself is described below, and is relatively independent ofchanges in magnification of the reproduced code pattern, or sheetvelocity, as long as the velocity does not substantially change duringthe time the code pattern is being read, since the cover sheet 12 hasits own integral tracking code pattern, as will be described.

On a convenient upper surface of the job sorting unit 10 is located aconventional numerical keypad 102 and adjacent LCD or other operatordisplay 104. Both are operatively connected with the controller 100, aswill be described.

The cover sheet 12, with its printed code area patterns, may be providedin the product package and uncritically reproduced by customers. Theexemplary cover sheet 12 here (see FIG. 2) has a first pre-printed codepattern 12a of dark lines aligned in a column in the sheet movementdirection, along one side of the sheet, which pattern 12a is used as areference for code line or positional identification, as will be furtherdescribed below. Two rows of relatively large, wide, associated "markingboxes" 12b and 12c are also used for the code pattern here, providingfor easy marking and large skew latitude. The code pattern needs to beproperly located and oriented with respect to a corner of the coversheet which will be properly aligned and registered when entering thedevice for passing the optical sensors that read the code pattern. Sincethe cover sheets having the code pattern may be reproduced by copying orfaxing, the code pattern may become overly skewed in such copying and,therefore, invalid. For easy visual inspection by a user for thevalidity of the code pattern, the range of acceptable margins of thecode pattern, as defined from the edges of the cover sheet, is indicatedon the cover sheet between minimum and maximum limits as represented bya short and a long line width, respectively. The code reading softwareis written for identifying the bin number and number of sheets from codeboxes 12b, 12c, even if slightly skewed, only partially filled in,unevenly spaced, or stretched.

The illustrated coding method here uses a code pattern having a firstcolumn of equally spaced darkened boxes 12a, and second and thirdcolumns 12b and 12c of equally spaced boxes with relatively large openrectangular areas uncritically defining marking areas for any darkmarks, or their absence. These three columns of boxes 12a, 12b, and 12care aligned in parallel with the paper path direction, and all the rowsthereof are perpendicular to that movement direction. The code patternis placed and aligned near a lead edge corner of a cover sheet 12 of adocument set to be transmitted by facsimile. Functionally, this codepattern is divided into three segments in the sheet movement direction.The first segment consists of the three pre-darkened (pre-printed) boxesacross the first row, which are read first by the code sensors 31, 32,33 in the mailbox device 10 in order to define marking characteristicsof a receiving facsimile machine. By also using the subsequently fedfirst column 12a marks read with sensor 31 as references for detectingthe allowable position, width and intensity of an optical signal,subsequent boxes in the remaining two segments of 12b and 12c can beread regardless of any small variations in the magnification orreduction of a received facsimile image which contains the code pattern.The second and third segments of columns 12b and 12c are used for codingand identifying a bin number and the number of documents in the job,respectively. The second column 12b here is marked for the "tens" digit,and the third column 12c is marked for the "ones" digit.

Specifically, the principle of identifying the bin number and the numberof sheets in this example is as follows. The reference positions of thepre-darkened boxes of the first column 12a detected by the correspondingfirst sensor 31 are used to search for only darkened boxes markedselectively in designated row locations along the second and thirdcolumns 12b and 12c. By this means, each time the first sensor 31detects each darkened box 12a passing by it, it triggers each of theother two sensors 32 and 33 to check whether the box in 12b and 12c inthat row under their sensor coverage is darkened. By means of a simplesoftware program in controller 100, the orders or row positions of thedarkened (marked) boxes detected in the second and third columns 12b and12c determine the bin number and the number of sheets in the job.

A somewhat similar marking pattern has been successfully used for thelast few years for "Ricoh Job Sheets" actually, IBM card size job cards!with black pencil or pen markings in three columns of 10 open boxeseach, "x1, x10 and x100", to mark the card with the desired "copyquantity", adjacent a similar column of 10 black premarked boxes andother, following, job control information boxes, such as "copy size","sort" or "stack", "duplex", etc.!, optically read by a small opticaljob card reader attached electrically to the Ricoh 8780 and earlierRicoh copiers.

As indicated, characteristics of the code pattern can conventionally bebuilt into the software program for checking the validity of the codepattern. For example, the differences between the widths of the firstcolumn 12a marks and that of the boxes in the second and third columns12b and 12c, the number of the darkened boxes in the first column, aswell as other specific locations of darkened areas can all be usedindividually and in combinations as a whole for verifying the codepattern. Thus, if the sheet passing the optical sensor array 30 is not acover sheet, even if it has intermittent dark image areas in the codepattern areas passing the sensors, it is virtually impossible that boththe beginning and ending positions of the dark image areas wouldcorrespond to a correct cover sheet code on-off signal pattern for thefirst respective spaced pattern 12a or a one or two digit (only) binnumber and page number. Note also that any jobs with a sheet whichcannot be properly read are preferably simply default directed to thetop or open bin. Thus, that does not cause a stoppage or jam.!

Since the sorter unit 10 can be conventional, even commerciallyavailable (e.g., the Minolta S-10 II sorter), except as modified asdescribed herein, there is no need to describe herein its conventionalfeeding and gating arrangements whereby inputted sheets are fed to andgated into selected bins, by separate associated bin gates or, as here,a moving gate or sheet deflector mechanism, as is well known in the art.Shown here is a movable belt 56 system for a moving sheet deflector 56ato selectably deflect sheets from a vertical feed belt transport systeminto the selected bin, in a well known manner. As will be shown, thissystem may also be desirably integrated into a bin locking system.! Sucha simple ten bin sorter unit can be easily slightly modified to leaveone open or public bin and provide up to nine addressable locked bins.These may be provided with, e.g., up to 90 programmable associated phonenumbers dialing automatically upon receipt of a cover sheet designatinga bin. The top bin or tray 11a of the sorter 10 is, conventionally, theopen or "public" bin, since it is not limited in stack height by anyoverlying tray. As is well known in sorting in general, such sorter binunits 10 can be extended or serially connected to provide more bins, ifdesired.

Note that if direct paper feeding from a facsimile output 14a to theinput 20 of the disclosed sorting unit is not available, that any or allof the facsimile output sheets can be hand-fed or loaded into the unit,and it can still function as desired. A conventional stacked set sheetseparation feeder can be optionally provided at the input 20 in thatcase, or in a parallel input, if desired.

The sorter or "mailbox" unit 10 here can be conventionally plugged intothe existing fax telephone line 61, and a short standard telephone lineconnector wire 64 then connected between this unit and the fax machine14 telephone line input connector, so that they can both share the sametelephone line 61. The unit 10 is desirably conventionally,independently, electrically powered simply by conventionally plugginginto the power line.

In contrast to various references cited above, in the embodiment herein,the cover sheet does not have to be marked with codes for wholetelephone numbers--only brief codes for the bin number and number ofsheets. Sensors in the receiving device do not need to read wholetelephone number codes--they only need to read one or two indicia markedto indicate a bin number and the number of sent sheets. The associatedconventional microprocessor memory unit here is non volatile and is usedfor storing the bin numbers and corresponding phone numbers until theyare changed by the users. They are not erased when receiving new fax.The present device is primarily for storing fax documents in designatedbins, for which phone numbers can also be assigned, as describedsubsequently below.

If desired, the control software can interrupt a fax transmission upondetecting an attempted (marked) but invalid code pattern receipt, towarn the fax sender, or call a designated local key operator. Likewise,the unit can be programmed to call a preprogrammed telephone number of akey operator in the event of a paper jam or other malfunction.

Since most facsimile machines have facedown and 1 to N page orderoutput, the optical sensors in the unit may be under the input paperpath, in a gap or apertures in the conventional paper path lower baffle.However, to universally also accommodate those facsimile machines, andprinters, with faceup output, the unit can also have 3 more sensorssimilarly positional above the paper path. Alternatively, an optionalinverter or alternate input path with a natural inversion in it beforethe sensors may be provided.

The term "keypad" as used herein is intended to encompass any simple orlow cost type of conventional numeric or alphanumeric keyboard, CRTtouch-screen areas, or other keystroke capturing devices, or voice inputalternatives.

Referring to FIG. 6 in particular, an additional disclosed optionalfeature (which is the further subject of the above cross-referencedapplication by the same inventor), utilizing most of the same apparatusand system, is for the receipt of a fax or other addressed printeroutput with an encoded cover sheet "read" by the receiving fax system toalso automatically dial the designated recipient's telephone number,controlled the same receiving fax coding system, using its same phoneline 61, and then play a recorded message telling the designatedrecipient to go pick up his fax or other such transmitted document.(This autodialing and bin receipt massaging concept may also be used foran automatic electronic mail or other printer.) Schematically shown hereis a telephone dialer 60 including a message recorder 62 controlled bycontroller 100. The message recorder 62 may be a simple standard endlessloop cassette tape recorder, or a digital recording chip, withpreprogrammed or microphone input of a short standard message or othervoice "speaker" devices. Automatic dialers are also widely commerciallyavailable, and thus, neither it nor the recorder need be furtherdescribed here. Integral dialing and speaking modules are alsoavailable. To accommodate an answering machine answer at the recipient'stelephone, a limited number of repeat message replays can be provided,(terminable by a hang-up by the receiving telephone) so as to allow timefor the recorded answering message on the receiver's answering machineto play and still receive the unit 10 receipt message on recorder 62.Alternatively, a system of message transmittal which listens and waitsfor a preset silence period, or for the answering machine's beep tone,before playing the recorded message, can be used.

Instead of, or in addition to, a telephone call indicating receipt inthe remote user's job sorter bin of a document from unit 10, anelectronic mail note so indicating can be sent to the user's terminalover the network therefor, if unit 10 is connected thereto.

As noted, the entire operation of the exemplary fax sorter unit 10 heremay be controlled by an integral conventional low cost microprocessorchip controller 100, conventionally programmable with software, whichhas ample capability and flexibility for the above functions and alsovarious other functions. For example, the software can be written toaddress the following special situations as follows:

Note that if every sequential FAX sender used a bin-coded cover sheet astaught herein, then encoding the numbers of sheet in the transmitteddocument would not be necessary. The next received cover sheet wouldsignal the end of the prior document transmissions (all pagescompleted). However, for compatibility, the software here accommodatesthe situation that a coded cover sheet will not be used for many FAXtransmissions. So, to ensure sending the entire FAX package (the entiretransmitted document--all pages) to a designated bin, encoding, (asindicated) the number of sheets or pages being transmitted is preferablyindicated as mandatory in instructions printed on the cover sheet.

Thus, if a marked number indicia for the number of transmitted FAXsheets is not detected on the received copy of the cover sheet i.e., noreadable marking therefor is sensed!, then all the received hard copies,including the cover sheet, may be sent to the open or "public" bin, ortray (rather than any locked bin) even if a bin number was encoded andread. The recipient can still get an automatic phone message informinghim or her of this FAX recipient situation, and if desired, a specialrecorded message indicating the FAX is in the open bin, if a bin numberwas encoded.!

Also, thus preferably after the total number of sheets indicated by apreceding properly marked cover sheet have all been sent to thedesignated bin, and are not followed by another properly marked receivedcover sheet, subsequent received FAX sheets will be sent to, a publicbin or tray. The recipient may be so informed by a phone message, if abin number was indicated). However, in this case, alternatively, oroptionally, the software can be written to continue to send allsubsequent received sheets to the same locked bin if the time lapsebetween received sheets is within a preset time limit. I.e., the systemcan assume these sheets are either a follow-up or continuing documentfor the same recipient, or that the number of sheets encoded on thecover sheet was less than the actual number of sheets in the documentsent.

On the other hand, if N number of sheets are coded on the cover sheet,but only N minus X sheets (less sheets than are indicated) are actuallyfaxed, the software can decide that the job send is complete after apreset brief waiting time (a given time limit) has passed. E.g., a fewseconds without any further facsimile page receipts. If desired, duringthis waiting time or pause, the fax machine input can be made "busy" soas not to receive new jobs, by the sorter device controlling the phoneline. After this preset brief waiting time, the software will regard thenext incoming fax page as the start of a new job. As noted, a newreceived coded cover sheet will also signal the end of the prior faxeddocument.!

One operative example used a modified (as described) commercial MinoltaS-10 II ten bin sorter (illustrated herein) operatively associated withan unmodified commercial Xerox Corporation "Telecopier® 7020" facsimilemachine.

The following is an example of simple programmed user interfaces (allwith the same, single, simple keypad) which is possible with thedisclosed unit. Passwords can be changed at any time desired, exceptduring receipt of a fax transmission. The machine as shipped can havefour-number passwords preassigned to the respective bins, e.g., 1111,2222, 3333, etc.!. Passwords are required to be entered to change theexisting bin "owner" information, as well as for unlocking any lockedbin. The information which can be entered includes the desired new binpassword as well as a telephone number to be dialed upon receiving a faxfor that bin. Whenever the unit is displaying (on the connected LC orother display associated with the keypad) the "Waiting for a sheet . . .Hit any key for menu" prompt, it is ready to change such userinformation. Any time it is desired to return to this initial state froma subsequent menu, simply do not press any keys, and after approximatelyeight to ten seconds the system will automatically return (default) tothis initial menu.! By pressing any key on the key pad the displayedprompt will change to "Enter Password:". At this point, one may enter avalid, current password. Conventionally, as one types a password, an "*"(asterisk) will appear to show key input has been received. If there isno match found for the entered password, the display will briefly show"Access Denied" and then return to its normal above-indicated awaitingfax sheet input status.

When a correct password has been entered, the next menu will then bedisplayed, consisting of a choice of "1 Unlock tray" and "2 Change userinfo". Pressing the number 2 on the keypad then accesses the userinformation changing menu. The displayed prompt now reads "Change: 1Password 2 Ph 3 Both". Entering a 1 will allow the password to bechanged, entering a 2 will allow a change in the telephone number, andentering a 3 will change both the password and telephone number. If oneselects 1 at this point, the menu will now prompt to enter four digitsfor the new password. Note that the new password will not be displayedas entered. Instead, "****" will be displayed, conventionally. The nextprompt will ask to verify the new password by entering the same fourdigits that were entered the first time. If you make the same entrytwice, the password will be changed, and the display will briefly notifyyou of the change. However, if you have failed to enter the samepassword twice, the display will notify you there was not a match andthe password will not be changed.

The method of changing the phone number that is associated with a bin isaccomplished in the same manner as described above, except for choosing"2 Change user info", instead of 1 when prompted for the item to changeas described above. The next thing to appear on the display afterselecting 2 will be "New phone #". Just the digits as one would dialthem are entered. For example, if you would like another local companyto be notified when you received a fax, you would enter that company'slocal telephone number, e.g., 2549100 only, with no hyphens and onlyseven digits (no area codes). There is no need to press an "enter" key,because after the seventh number is entered the number can beautomatically saved. If an error is made while entering the new number,do not press any more keys. After the above-indicated eight to tensecond wait for no further key activity, the system will time out,"Canceled" will briefly be displayed and that data entry will bediscarded. If the new phone number is recorded, the system will display"Saved" briefly, and then return to the ready state.

The procedure for changing both the password and telephone numbers isexactly as above. After changing your password, instead of returning tothe main menu, one will be taken automatically through theabove-described change phone number prompts.

The initially assigned four number passwords can be changed by followingthe steps indicated in the menu. In a control software, an old passwordcan be replaced by a new password and the software matches the passwordentered by a user with the one saved in the memory for that bin.Matching of the two passwords prompts a locking mechanism to unlock thespecific bin. Different passwords are needed for different bins. Alocking means, such as the one 50 to be described, can allow severalbins be opened one by one after entering their passwords respectively.In the control software, a password is entered to a specific bin number,which, in this example, is related to a specific distance that a movinggate unlocking meads such as belt notch 58 will travel from a homeposition to reach the bin latch 54 location by stepper motor or servomotor controlled movement of the belt 56.

An alternative system of changing passwords or bin assignments is to usethe cover sheet 12, rather than a keypad. A pre-arranged, speciallymarked (abnormal) code pattern on the cover sheet can be read by thecontroller to tell it to read other subsequent marks on the same or asubsequent cover sheet 12 so as to enter that information into memory asa flew password or bin assignment, rather than be normally read as a jobbin sorting cover sheet.

An example of a user interface for unlocking bins will now be described.As noted, bin one is the unlocked public bin, where fax mail that lackscoding is directed, and access is allowed by anyone to this bin.! Forunlocking any locked bin, the user can press any key on the keypad 102while the sorter unit is in the ready mode. One will then be prompted ondisplay 104 to enter the password. Then, simply enter the four numberpassword associated (by pre-programming as indicated above) with the binone desires to unlock. Incorrect password entry will cause the sorter todisplay "Access denied" and return to the ready state. If the passwordentered is legitimate, the menu will then be displayed "1 Unlock tray 2Change user info". Choose a 1 on the keypad. The display will then show"Unlocking tray" and the number of the tray currently unlocked. Thelower line of the display 104 will now contain the statement "Hold keyuntil done". By holding down any key at this point, the gate for thatbin can be held "unlocked" until you have completed removing the faxmail from that bin and released the key. The system automaticallyre-locks and returns to the ready state approximately eight to tenseconds after the key is released.

As noted, another example of an electrical locking and bin unlockingsystem is described in the above-cited EPO published application No. 0241 273.

The following describes one example of a preferred bin locking means 50.Utilizing in a dual-mode function, the paper transport mechanism of amailbox sorter, an electrical locking means can be linked to thepre-existing moving belt 56 and a control 100 software that governs thedelivery of sheets to designated bins. As shown in FIG. 8, a movableflexible timing belt 56 is aligned under the latches 54 of the bin 11doors 52. Instead of being slideable, these latches 54 here are fixed tothe bin doors 52. The belt 56 has a notch 58 on one edge which can bemoved up and down to serve as a locking and unlocking means for the doorlatches 54 of the bins 11. The notch 58 moves with the belt 56, and ispositioned at a designated bin location so that the belt does not blockthat latch 54 of that designated bin 11, so that that particular door 52can be opened. The other bin doors are held locked by the un-notchedareas of the belt 56 retaining all the other door latches 54. The belt56 is entrained by the bin apertures 57 through which it passes, orother retainers, so that it cannot be pulled out by pulling on anylocked door 52. The movement of the notched belt 56 is commanded by thekeystroke actions entered in accordance with the password of theelectronic lock associated with the bin number. If desired, a separatekey operator accessible mechanical unlocking system for all the bins 11(as by pivoting open the entire unit 10), can be provided in case ofjams or power failures.!

It may be seen that this bin locking and unlocking system 50 requiresmuch less hardware then separate, individual solenoid or cam operatedlatches for each bin. In fact, there is only one moving part, belt 56,which, as noted, can also be used to provide bin gating for sheetdeflection bin selection.

The bin locking system 50 may, is desired, further optionally includelighting indicator lamps on or adjacent the bin door 52 being unlocked,to direct the user to the bin door 52 of the bin 11 to be opened andunloaded, as indicated in FIG. 6. Note, in this regard, the binindicator light prior art cited above.!

As noted, the present system is also usable for and applicable toelectronic mail hardcopy prints and/or other networked or shared userdocument printers in general. E.g., in a shared user, networked, printerenvironment, such as in an office, the printer can electronicallyrecognize the sender or user terminal sending the printing job fromnetwork or document electronic information already available in saidjob. (Such shared printers may also have alternate scanner or floppydisk document inputs.) It is additionally noted that combined facsimileand digital printing or copying can be provided in one single unit.Note, e.g., Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,345 filed Jul. 25,1989 and issued Aug. 7, 1990 to Paradise, et al.; U.S. Pat. No.3,597,071, filed Aug. 30, 1968 and issued Jul. 27, 1971 to Jones; FujiXerox Co. Ltd. U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,218, issued Aug. 6, 1991 toMatsumoto; Sharp U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,892, issued Jun. 4, 1991 to Kita,et al.; and IBM Corp. U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,244, issued Nov. 18, 1986 toD. R. Andrews, et al., originally filed Oct. 4, 1976 (see, e.g., Col.55). Such plural mode printers are commercially available, e.g., theFuji Xerox Co. Ltd. "Able"™ machine series (Able™ 3311, etc.) and Canon"Navigator".! Note that existing Xerox Corporation "ViewPoint"™ sharednetworked printers already automatically print the particular print jobsender's name on a self-generated printed job cover sheet, and alsoelectronically notifies the job sender via the network if there is aprinting problem. Such pre-existing printer cover sheet generators alsoprint onto each job cover sheet the number of sheets in that job. Forthe system herein, such printers may be additionally programmed to add(print) a recognizable unique code pattern to the existing job coversheet printed for that job (from, e.g., a pre-programmed addresseelook-up table), which cover sheet, when fed into this same type of"mailbox" sorter unit 10 (or another), can be read to cause the coversheet and the other subsequent sheets of that job to be directed into apre-assigned (preprogrammed) mailbox bin for that user or joboriginator, just as described above for facsimile output. Alternativelyor additionally, other printer copy sets may be directed in the samemanner to other bins with other printed cover sheet code patternsgenerated from the electronic job directions sent to the printer by thenetwork user.

For further details of the automatic generation of a readable codepattern onto output sheets from a printer, examples are provided in theabove-cited job ticket (job control sheet) printing patents U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,970,554, 4,757,348, and 4,987,447. The readable code pattern isdesirably printed by the regular existing printer image processor whichprints the document images on the job sheets output. Alternatively, anon-line extra "annunciator" printer for small areas of the copy sheetsin the output path, such as commercially available thermal bar codeprinters or ink jet printers, may be used.

It will also be appreciated that there are facsimile or other printersystem in which the messages or documents are electronically storedrather than printed immediately, and in that case, the designatedprinter or printers and addressees may be changed or forwarded by anintermediate terminal and/or programmed software, which here can be usedto change the bin addresses. Furthermore, the job or cover sheet maycontain additional encoded information for other copy or distributioncontrols.

While the embodiment disclosed herein is preferred, it will beappreciated from this teaching that various alternatives, modifications,variations or improvements therein may be made by those skilled in theart, which are intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for separating the physicaloutputted job sheets sequentially outputted by the output of a facsimilereceiving apparatus into separate job sheets sets for separate designedrecipients of faxed documents transmitted thereto, comprising:afacsimile receiver output job sorting accessory unit, said accessoryunit including; sheet input means positionable at said sheet output ofsaid facsimile receiving apparatus to sequentially receive said outputsheets therefrom and feed them in a sheet feeding path into said inputmeans, plural discrete facsimile output sheet collection bins, controlmeans for electronically assigning discrete bin numbers to respectivesaid discrete facsimile output sheet collection bins, and for variablyelectronically assigning said discrete bin numbers to discretedesignated facsimile recipients, optical sensing means in said sheetinput means and operatively connecting with said control means fordetecting uniquely marked area encoding corresponding to a said binnumber on a facsimile output sheet in said feeding path in said inputmeans and for determining if a said detected encoding corresponds to asaid bin number so designated for a facsimile recipient, and sheet binselection and feeding means, controlled by said determination of saidoptical sensing means and said control means, for selectively feedingsequential facsimile output sheets from said sheet input means todesignated said facsimile output sheet collection bins subsequent to asaid detection by said optical sensing means and said control means ofsaid marked area encoding of a facsimile output sheet corresponding to asaid assigned bin number for a said designated facsimile recipient. 2.The facsimile output separating system of claim 1, wherein saidfacsimile receiver output job sorting unit has bin locking means forrestricting access to individual said bins thereof, with electrical binunlocking means operatively connecting with said control means, andwherein said job sorting unit also has a keypad for data entrycontrolling said electrical unlocking means by unlocking at least onesaid bin in response to entry of an access code on said data entrykeypad if said access code has been preprogrammed in said control meansto unlock said bin.
 3. The facsimile output separating system of claim1, wherein said facsimile receiver output job sorting unit furtherincludes locking means for restricting access to individual said binsthereof, with electrical unlocking means including a keypad forunlocking an individual said bin in response to entry of a access codepre-programmed on said keypad.
 4. The facsimile output separating systemof claim 1, wherein said detectable marked areas on a facsimile outputsheet are detectable if they are within preset minor plural parallelelongated areas of said sheet feeding path of said sheet input meansextending in the feeding direction of a facsimile output sheet in saidsheet input means.
 5. The facsimile output separating system of claim 1,wherein said facsimile job sorting output accessory unit is anindependent mailbox unit nor requiring any electronic control connectionto a conventional facsimile receiving apparatus to operate therewith. 6.The facsimile output separating system of claim 1, wherein less thanthree said unique marked areas provide said detection of an assigned binnumber on a facsimile output sheet by said unit.
 7. The facsimile outputseparating system of claim 1, wherein said detectable marked areas on afacsimile output sheet are detectable if they are within preset minorplural parallel elongated areas of said sheet feeding path of said sheetinput means extending in the feeding direction of a facsimile outputsheet in said sheet input means, and wherein at least one additionalsaid detectable marked area indicates to said optical sensing means andsaid control means the number of sheets in the transmitted document job.8. The facsimile output separating system of claim 1, wherein saiddetectable marked areas on a facsimile output sheet are detectable ifthey are within preset minor plural parallel elongated areas of saidsheet feeding path of said sheet input means extending in the feedingdirection of a facsimile output sheet in said sheet input means, andwherein there are at least two said parallel rows of areas in which saidmarked areas are detectable, and wherein said optical sensing means andsaid control means look for dark markings only within minor areas ofsaid rows spaced along said feeding direction, which spacing isindicated by detectable spacing markers, and wherein a said marked areain one of said two rows is read as a single digit, and wherein a saidmarked area in the other of said two rows is read therewith as a tensdigit to provide a document number for ten or more document sheets to befed to said indicated bin.
 9. The facsimile output separating system ofclaim 1, wherein said detectable marked areas on a facsimile outputsheet are detectable if they are within preset minor plural parallelelongated areas of said sheet feeding path of said sheet input means,extending in the feeding direction of a facsimile output sheet in saidsheet input means and wherein at least one additional said detectablemarked area indicates to said optical sensing means and said controlmeans the number of sheets in the transmitted document job, and whereinas few as two unique marked areas provide for said detection of anassigned bin number on a facsimile output sheet by said unit and thenumber of sheet to be fed into said assigned bin.
 10. The facsimileoutput separating system of claim 1, wherein if no marked areascorresponding to any designated bin are detected by said optical means,subsequent facsimile output sheets received by said unit are directed bysaid bin selection means to a so-designated open bin.
 11. The facsimileoutput separating system of claim 1, wherein said detectable markedareas on a facsimile output sheet are detectable if they are withinpreset minor plural parallel elongated areas of said sheet feeding pathof said sheet input means extending in the feeding direction of afacsimile output sheet in said sheet input means, and wherein said areasto be marked are indicated on a preprinted facsimile cover sheet whichfurther includes preprinted spaced dark code identification marksassociated therewith on said cover sheet form but separately opticallydetectable as a code pattern.
 12. The facsimile output separating systemof claim 1, wherein said said input means includes sheet side shiftingmeans for lateral movement of output sheets in said feeding path in saidinput means into a side registered sensing position for said opticalsensing means for said detecting of uniquely marked area encodingcorresponding to a said bin number on a facsimile output sheet in saidfeeding path.
 13. The facsimile output separating system of claim 1,wherein said control means and said plural discrete facsimile outputsheet collection bins further include means for relatively offsetstacking of plural documents fed to the same said bin in response todetecting identically marked area encoding corresponding to the samesaid bin number on a subsequent facsimile output sheet in said feedingpath in said input means, irrespective of intervening detecteddifferently marked said output sheets.
 14. The facsimile outputseparating system of claim 2, wherein said bin locking and unlockingmeans comprises a common repositionable unlatching means for said binswhich is integral said sheet bin selection and feeding means.
 15. Thefacsimile output separating system of claim 13, wherein said means forrelatively offset stacking of plural documents fed to the same said bincomprises means for laterally offsetting said bins and means forvariably actuating said means for laterally offsetting said bins withsaid control means.
 16. A system for separating the outputted pluralphysical sheet jobs from the output of an electronically shared usersdocument job printer, which printer comprises, but is not limited to, afacsimile receiver printer, into separate job sets for separate designedrecipients of documents jobs electronically transmitted to said printer,comprising:a variably encoded physical job cover sheet outputted by saidprinter at said same output in advance of said outputted sheets of asaid printer output job, said job cover sheet being variably encodedwith marked areas indicative of a bin number and a job sheet countnumber for said printer output job; and a printer output job sheetsorting accessory unit, said job sorting accessory unit including; sheetinput means positionable ,at said sheet output of said job printer tosequentially receive said output job sheets therefrom and feed them in asheet feeding path into said sheet input means, plural discrete joboutput sheet collection bins, control means for electronically assigningdiscrete said bin numbers to respective said job printer output sheetcollection bins, and for electronically assigning different saiddiscrete bin numbers to different said shared users of said job printer,optical sensing means in said sheet input means and operativelyconnecting with said control means for detecting said marked areaencoding on said cover sheet and determining if it corresponds to a saidassigned bin number, and sheet bin selection and feeding means,controlled by said determination of said optical sensing means and saidcontrol means, for selectively feeding said output sheets from saidsheet input means to designated said output sheet collection binssubsequent to a said detection by said optical sensing means and saidcontrol means of a preceding said cover sheet with said marked areaencoding corresponding to a said assigned bin number for a saiddesignated shared job printer user, for job sorting, and for feedingsaid output sheets to another said output sheet collection bin if nosaid encoding is so detected.
 17. The printer output job separatingsystem of claim 16, wherein said job sorting accessory unit has binlocking means for restricting access to individual said bins thereof,and electrical bin unlocking means operatively connecting with saidcontrol means for unlocking said locking means for at least one said binin response to entry of a bin access code.
 18. The printer output jobseparating system of claim 16, wherein said job sheet sorting outputaccessory unit is an independent mailbox unit not requiring anyelectronic connection to said job printer to operate therewith.
 19. Theprinter output job separating system of claim 16, wherein said uniquemarked areas encoded on said cover sheet provides for said detection ofan assigned bin number and the number of sheets in the job followingsaid cover sheet to be fed to a designated bin by said job sortingaccessory unit, and are printed by said printer using the opticallyreadable printing indicia used to print said job output sheets.
 20. Theprinter output job separating system of claim 16, wherein less than fiveunique said marked areas encoded on said cover sheet provides for saiddetection of an assigned bin number and the number of sheets in the jobfollowing said cover sheet to be fed to a designated bin by said jobsorting accessory unit.
 21. The printer output job separating system ofclaim 16, wherein said unique marked areas encoded on said cover sheetprovides for said detection of an assigned bin number and the number ofsheets in the job following said cover sheet to be fed to a designatedbin by said unit, and are printed by said printer using the sameoptically readable printing indicia used to print said job outputsheets, and wherein the number of said output sheets sequentiallyfollowing a so encoded cover sheet which is fed to one said discretecollection bin by said sheet bin selection and feeding means correspondsto said number of sheets in the job encoded on said preceding coversheet.
 22. The printer output job separating system of claim 21, whereinsaid job sheet sorting output accessory unit is an independent mailboxunit not requiring any electronic connection to said job printer tooperate therewith; and wherein said said input means includes sheet sideshifting means for lateral movement of said printer output sheets insaid feeding path in said input means into a side registered sensingposition for said optical sensing means for said detecting of uniquelymarked area encoding corresponding to a said bin number.
 23. The printeroutput job separating system of claim 16, wherein said detectable markedareas on a said cover sheet are detectable if they are within presetminor plural parallel areas of said sheet feeding path of said sheetinput means extending in the feeding direction of a printer output sheetin said sheet input means, and wherein there are at least two saidparallel rows of areas in which said marked areas are detectable, andwherein said optical sensing means and said control means look for darkmarkings only within minor areas of said rows spaced along said feedingdirection, which spacing is indicated by detectable spacing markers, andwherein a said marked area in one of said two rows is read as a singledigit, and wherein a said marked area in the other of said two rows isread therewith as a tens digit so as to provide a document number forten or more document sheets to be fed to said indicated bin.
 24. Asystem for separating the outputted plural jobs of plural physicalsheets from the output of an electronically shared users job printer byseparate designated recipients of documents jobs electronicallytransmitted to said printer, comprising:a printer output sorting mailboxsystem, said sorting mailbox system including; a sheet input path atsaid sheet output of said shared users printer to sequentially receivesaid output job sheets therefrom, plural discrete job output sheetcollection bins providing user mailboxes, a control system forelectronically assigning discrete bin numbers to respective said outputsheet collection bins, and for electronically assigning said discretebin numbers to different said users of said shared users job printer, asheet bin selection and feeding system controlled by said control systemfor selectively feeding said job sheets from said sheet input path todesignated output sheet collection bins corresponding to saidelectronically assigned bin numbers for said designated users, saidprinter output sorting mailbox system also having a bin locking systemfor restricting access to a plurality of individual said output sheetcollection user mailbox bins thereof, including an electrical binunlocking system operatively connecting with said control system forautomatically unlocking discrete said bins in response to user entriesof discrete bin unlocking access codes assigned to discrete users ofsaid printer output sorting mailbox system.
 25. The printer outputseparating system of claim 24 wherein said printer output job sortingmailbox is a modular unit with an electronic keypad connecting with saidcontrol system on which said bin access codes are user enterable.